Great Synth Mysteries Ep. 4: Whatever Happened to the LinnDrum II

[@cooloutbeats]

i met Roger Linn at NAMM one year in the early to mid-2000s. He was sitting there alone noodling around on guitar, trying to promote his guitar FX pedals. No one was really interested, so I chatted him up. This is the guy that not only designed the MPC, but invented drum machine swing. The conversation left me bummed out honestly. The way he talked about drum machines totally matches the interview at the end of this videos. He simply has no love for sampling drum machines at all. The MPC was basically a fluke. He never meant for it to be some all-in-one, creation device used by hip-hop producers. He was just looking for a better way for guitarists/songwriters to make demos. He doesn't even see hip-hip/dance producers as his customers or fans. Sampling was just a means to an end of getting more realistic-sounding drums so he wouldn't need to hire a session drummer. That's basically what he said. That's why the original Linndrum sold well and competing products didn't. It was the first widely available drum machine that used samples and sounded relatively close to acoustic drums (for the time). User sampling was the next step, but the Linn9000 was plagued with serious bugs and crashes. It did so bad in the market that Linn was forced to shut the company down. He then took the Linn9000 concept, updated it and licensed it to Akai for the MPC60. After the MPC3000, Akai was able to cut him out of the product and stop paying him whatever licensing fees or residuals he was getting. Another reason Roger Linn could care less about MPC users.

[@SyntheticFuture]

That's a pretty interesting story. I actually feel this a lot with older tech where people keep asking for clones and copies and the companies only ever intended it to be a stepping stone to something better (Roland TB come to mind). Must be frustrating trying to innovate and improve and all the clients want is "more of the same".

[@cooloutbeats]

@@SyntheticFuture I think for Roger Linn it's more that he's just not interested in the product type and user base. I'd love to see a new innovative sampling drum machine. From what I witnessed, it's just not a priority for him. When it comes down to it he's a old guitarist not a 'beat guy'. With all the interest in finger drumming and live beat performance/jamming, there's been no application of MPE to drum pads for instance.

[@IanWaugh]

Well, that's thatn, then...

[@VJFranzK]

I also talked with him at NAMM and got a better impression! He seemed to really understand "the drum machine as a virtuoso instrument" instead of just a backing track. (There's also an interview somewhere which includes this type of discussion.) It's still possible he might create a next level drum machine in future.

[@cooloutbeats]

@@VJFranzK Perhaps. i spoke to him before the Boomchik or Tempest, so maybe he saw the light.Time will tell...

[@AlexBallMusic]

Still waiting on the VioLinn.

[@infindebula]

I am hoping for a sLinnthesizer.

[@RobertDorschel]

This is going on your permanent record, Alex.

[@elsongs]

Does this mean you are an advocate for more gratuitous VioLinns?

[@gasolineandwine]

Alex, I've got some news for you, you're gonna love it...

[@PaulBoos]

LOL Alex

[@RedMeansRecording]

This is really good stuff

[@doylofficial]

hello there

[@nsbd90now]

Yeah. I like this person and am subscribed. Always very interesting.

[@NoirEtBlancVie]

Thanks man, finally get this horse of an episode off my back lol

[@josephf7306]

When I was curious about the Linnstrument Roger invited me to bike over to his house in Berkeley and give it a whirl. I ended up buying it and it was a great experience through and through.

[@conradmaceo]

I’ve spoke to Roger Linn through Emails several times, and he’s a down to earth guy. He took the time to talk to to me about a few things, this is around the time the new Linndrum was scrapped and him and Dave Smith came out with the Tempest. I expressed how much we would all love another Roger Linn drum machine, but at the time his main focus seemed to be on the Linnstrument. I talked to him about some of the features I would love to see on a drum machine, and he spoke to me about some of the costs involved in adding some of those features. Him coming out with a new drum machine/Sampler just seems like a win win, but like the other guy said I don’t think his main focus is on making drum machines, but hey, you never know! If I had the financial means I would definitely pursue a collaboration with him that would blow the Akai MPC completely out of the water!

[@RickyTinez]

Aaahhhh I LOVE these

[@NoirEtBlancVie]

Thanks homie!😋

[@tragicwill]

I love that my two favorite KZbinrs are fans of each other

[@milk_bath]

I unironically love the aesthetic and UI of the Linn9000.

[@LikeSomeDude]

SO FUCKING HAPPY that the algorithm put one of ur vids in my feed! 🙏🙏 I’m a producer with a massive collection of synths and a couple samplers: the volca sample, and the Octatrak mk ii. I’ve struggled for three years trying to learn the fucking Octatrak. The workflow is unimaginably tedious and unintuitive. I paid $1200 for this beast of a machine when it came out, and one day I WILL master it, BUT my frustration with the workflow eventually had me looking at other samplers and so I bought the mpc one. Immediately, without so much as even looking at the manual, I was making drum kits from samples of everything from records to my synth collection, and banging out killer tracks. The ease of the mpc’s hyper intuitive workflow had me creating right away but now I’m diving deep into all of its capabilities and your channel has been so fucking dope for that kind of research and what can be utilized with it. The explanations of ur workflow helps w my mpc even if you aren’t explicitly using one! Keep up the good work, brother! Unh! To the beat, y’all! Body-rock y’all! 🤪😎🔥

[@synthseeker]

I'm so glad you continued this series!

[@mattyjmogul]

Man glad the YT algorithm has changed so happy I found this channel ! Honestly I was this tech nerd when I was your age & younger..lol..I used to buy my eprom chips from Peter Gotcher while I was still in high school before Protools..lol

[@Fluxwithit]

its too bad you missed our recent BEATPPL interview with Roger Linn. there was a nice surprise at the end. :)

[@Fluxwithit]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5mto4Gqmtljn9E&t

[@Lofyne]

I was thinking about that the whole time whilst watching this 🙂

[@mr.irrelevant3588]

I guess the Beatppl podcast is too underground. Which i think is unfortunate because its really good.

[@MRGO0OSE]

What was the surprise?

[@JorbLovesGear]

This is perfect, wonderful work. I really do look forward to each of these. 🙏

[@JeffHendricks]

I have an Adrenalinn 3, and every time I've emailed them about a question, Roger replied personally. Super cool guy. Clearly the guy has ideas, but it always seems to be business stuff that holds him back. Such a great mind, maybe never fully understood by the industry.

[@AllenMichael]

If Roger Linn created a remake of Linndrum combining LM1 sequencer feel + tunable sounds + LM2 sounds/feel+ option to upload samples AND 8/16 bit in an IDENTICAL HUGE BODY (lm1 design) It would be a SMASH. Why not just do it? Why not just create a "BEST OF" Linndrum. I'd pay $2999 for it. Im sure others would. I have to state that it NEEDS to retain the PUNCH and Sequencer feel... If you read this Roger please do it!!! Make a GOLD edition legacy version...

[@MCBrainpower]

Met Roger Linn in 2015, super humble yet uber legendary. Great video. Thanks ❤️🔥

[@KattKirsch]

Wow, great stuff. These sorts of enigmatic, famously volatile "it's done when it's done" type of creators (Orson Welles springs to mind) rarely seem so grounded and realistic about their legacy and their place both in history and the present. I always thought the Linnstrument was some weird, wacky side project, maybe just something from one of his employees; but now it's easy to see that he's simply trying his best to make truly usable tools for creating electronic music in a more human way.

[@iwillnevergetone5]

that 3D mockup around 4:32 looks smack where akai got the MPC X vibe from. they were def still paying attention to what Linn/Smith were doing in '07

[@krushingbro6620]

i was thinking exactly the same.

[@apexone5502]

I can definitely see what you’re talking about. Someone at Akai had to have been taking notes.

[@ET2carbon]

Me too

[@redneckdiscotek9604]

THE COOLEST KZbin VIDEO I SAW DONE BY A “SYNTH” KZbinR! Stephen is so talented and a huge creative I admire.

[@chrisdorsch9754]

You have a special channel and you are a great curriator of the content within your videos. Your story telling and enthusiasm are greatly appreciated.

[@DomSigalas]

Oh man this is an excellent video- was just rewatching the one you did on the Virus. Love them

[@5T3LTH]

Built a Linn drum sampler clone with an arduino. Pretty cool. My sequencer is binary coded in and you can blend through the patterns with a potentiometer.

[@DavidHilowitzMusic]

I really enjoyed this. I had no idea Roger was even privately tinkering with drum machines any more. I just assumed the Linnstrument was the primary focus.

[@GTChris]

Thank you for making this, I recently bought a Linnstrument and playing it makes me feel as calm and collected as Roger Linn's voice. Bless that man.

[@bd594]

All your hard work clearly shows in the quality of your videos. Keep up the good work.

[@michaell.8938]

I bought a LinnDrum back in the 80's for $200. It was used, but looked new. The music store just wanted to get rid of it, so they accepted my offer. It was eventually stolen from me. I sure miss it.

[@kensmechanicalaffair]

Now they sell for 5,000

[@JAdeWii_]

🙌

[@jimrogers7425]

Roger Linn was originally a guitarist and recording engineer who worked for Leon Russell. It was during his time with Leon that he designed the Linn LM-1. I had a friend who was an engineer for Leon during that time who had stories about Roger and his initial prototype that sounded awful... and everyone laughed at him. However, he had the last laugh. I also worked with the late, great Roger Nichols back in the late 90s. He told me that both he and Roger Linn took a machine code programming class together, both with the idea of making a drum machine... one for high fidelity drums (Nichols) and the other for mass producing a drum machine for sale (Linn). The thought of two guys with the same first name taking a machine code programming class together with a similar end goal in mind still blows me away. Nichols could remember the month, day, year, hour, minute, and second that he first pushed record on a machine to record the output of Wendell. He also said, "and remember, there was no MIDI then so we had to put trigger pulses on tape ourselves." Talk about the work that these two men put in on their ideas! My hat's off to both of them. However, Roger Linn deserves way more credit for all that he continues to bring to the music world. Cheers!

[@XanderEwald]

I love this series! The amount of research and attention to detail you put into these documentaries is astonishing.

[@aptudo]

Super interesting video! I own a Linnstrument 128 and it's changed my relationship to music-making and synth patch creation. So I've personally benefited from Roger's focus on innovation rather than perfecting past ideas. A little nostalgia goes a long way for me, which is why I listen to new music far more than the old classics. So I relate to Roger's comments at the end.

[@Alleroc]

Yes! We were talking about this on your stream last week in chat. So intriguing!

[@AkaiS1100]

Very nice summary. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

[@joelkulesha8284]

Yes yes YES! This is the series that got me to subscribe to this channel originally, I always hoped we'd see it's return!

[@Coqui-Media]

This presentation is so slick and professional that I have subscribed! Keep it up, sir....great video!

[@SwiftDreamer]

Thanks for this Noir, never knew about the LinnDrum2, but now I'm hyped for it

[@jubeijackson6602]

🐦 “ what happened to that Boy?!”

[@theroyalcrane]

Iykyk

[@renbelmont]

Very cool vid, instantly subscribed

[@midnightsocean2689]

Great vid. I love this mystery series you are doing. As far as the drum machine, as cool as it would have been, I totally understand and respect where the dude's coming from.

[@avace917]

Watching this again 9 months later, I find it interesting how that article talked down on the MPC line. Makes you wonder how well the current MPC line is selling. I'm on several MPC groups with a lot of members. There are definitely issues that some people have with the software. Mostly an arranger mode like the Akai Force has but people are still buying them. I see so many people with more than one model. Mostly the Live 2 for mobile use and the X for stationary use. Still can't believe I took my MPC 2000 to Paris twice in the 90s.

[@starskypartridge1177]

I followed the whole BoomChic development closely. When Tempest was finally released I snatched one up (maybe the first in Canada) and while it was not the instrument I expected it remains one of my favourites.

[@soulsonic]

Really good work! Thank you for creating the series, and such a good episode. I remember seeing the BoomChik mock up and was excited because I had an Evolver at the time that I loved. TBH, having a Tempest with a streamlined OS would be magnificent! **sigh**

[@SynthAddict]

nice job as usual, and very cool to have Roger reply personally with the extra details and corrections - I remember the BoomChik news and how much the mockup looked like the other Evolver gear that name was familiar too since there was a cool Pocket PC (iPAQ) app in the late 90s called BoomChick that allowed you to load in your own samples (or classic samples included) and take a "VST-style" simple groovebox/drum machine on the go in your pocket, controlled with your stylus, and this was before the famous Roland PMA-5 PDA unit that was only mildly popular for mobile music making, but I digress :-) Looks like that expo appearance was like the famous Waldorf Stromberg (mock-up only) and subsequent vaporware Sadly we got no LinnDrum II and had other things were being released instead like the Beat Kangz BeatThang and Akai's Rhythm Wolf :-P

[@jameswooster4250]

great vid bro. you killed it again. I can understand where Rodger is coming from. We only have X amount of time on the earth, and eventually, everyone decides to spend the last good years on something that matters to themselves. I hope the next creation is as timeless as his other visions. I have a Tempest and sometimes I feel like selling it because of the time that must be spent to get great sounds out of it, but then, I'll make some music on it that is so awesome, I realize I'll never sell it. I hope the same for his next creation.

[@RobertSWilson]

Moar synth mysteries pls!!! After watching this one I went back and found the previous episodes. I'm hooked!

[@asoundlab]

Great video! Love the tempest and did not know this history. Now I’ll be dreaming of the LinnDrum II as well :)

[@DNYLNY]

Wow. Such a good video. Top notch professional status.

[@dv8rcreative]

Really fascinating. These mini docs are great. Thanks!

[@PaulBoos]

I love all of your posts and this is some great sleuthing... THANKS for this!

[@Ismail-ie5gi]

This was awesome. Thank you. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾😎

[@ロンドン]

so fun interesting video. thank you. It's interesting.... waiting 2

[@gladlawson61]

The Linn 9000 is super nice. Friend paid a fortune for it and got it fixed up. Just a super beast

[@artemvsprime]

What they were trying to make back then kinda exists now in Elektron’s Analog Rytm mk2. It does samples and analog voices with a great sequencer

[@shadowseal22]

I genuinely always thought the Tempest's subtitle was the linndrum 2

[@jamar4]

whoa whoa WHOA. linndrum ii?? i mean, ive heard of the kawai r50 iii, and possibly the r150, but never have i heard this. i didnt even watch the video yet😭

[@almightyEsquilax]

Damn, now I'm going to postpone my series: Great Synth Mysteries-Mysteries: What Happened to Great Synth Mysteries?

[@NoirEtBlancVie]

I mean, it’s only been over 2 years 😂

[@ryanperrault8174]

@@NoirEtBlancVie We need more of these. Solid video.

[@jakelawson1]

This was really, really fascinating. Great work!

[@a.krawion1872]

Enjoyed the episode. Well done!

[@MrScrooge1980]

Rest Up Dave Smith🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 great video

[@Kpfromtha313]

This is amazing! Love your content and commentary.

[@vectorhold6489]

I was fortunate enough to meet the man two years ago at a convention. Nice guy

[@GordonRaphael]

thanks for this exploration and in-depth presentation on this cool topic!

[@andytawse]

Really interesting. Thanks. Was fascinating to see the boom chik

[@nickexarch6727]

Great series! First time I've come across your channel but subbed right away

[@NoirEtBlancVie]

Thanks, yeah, I’m kind weird. I don’t do much new stuff and like to stay underground so I’m glad you found me!

[@Musik_Arbeiter]

Awesome video, I honestly had no idea about the LinnDrum II! 🤙

[@blondeengie]

Love this serie , so nice idea - grand bravo ! C’est mortel

[@wolfpackpresets]

Very interesting, thanks! 👍

[@luvlines]

interesting equipment story. btw, I found you from the audio library. thanks for sharing your music for free. more power and God bless

[@titovalasques]

As far as I know the late great Prince never used the Linn Drum. His sound was always attributed to the LM1.

[@ncapone87]

A common misconception

[@titovalasques]

@Freline Which songs?

[@SoDope29]

@@titovalasques @titovalasques Erotic City, I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man, the Purple Rain version of Possessed, Dance with the Devil, Demo for Eternity, Demo for Baby Go-Go

[@titovalasques]

@@SoDope29 I stand corrected. However the iconic Prince drums always came from the LM1.

[@vj7248]

Sounds like LinnDrum 2 concept woulda been a groovebox. An all in one sampler and synthesizer. Then having to split it into Tempest and LinnDrum 2 is basically what Elektron and Novation have done with current grooveboxes. Interesting

[@jpz6382]

Hey Noir are you becoming a great synth mysrery by your self. Im worried. No new stuff. No Halloween special???

[@NoirEtBlancVie]

Haha, still working on this years super late Halloween special 🤣. My computer broke, so I’m slowly figuring it out.

[@guysmiley7289]

For a bit he was putting out mockups for a linndrum with the keybed from the linnstrument.

[@WE_OF_THE_NOV]

'Black and white life', you genius ;)

[@infographie]

Excellent

[@1605munro]

Thank you, very cool chapter

[@8dioproductions]

Phenomenal mini doc!

[@NoirEtBlancVie]

OMG, 8dio! Hi ya’ll, thanks for stopping by, it’s been a long time since I’ve see you but maybe now that the worlds on the mend. Keep on making great stuff! (I need to get a Prophet X over here don’t I ☺️)

[@kevinbatchelor9566]

Great work on this!

[@krider7296]

Great and informative video. Thank you for making it.

[@wes2819]

I'm more excited about the upcoming Linndrum clone from Behringer

[@AndyVonal]

Nice one, Stephen! Thanks for the insightful video!

[@1_of_4]

Awesome video and series

[@KordTaylor]

Really a great video. Thank you.

[@epigon1]

Watching the comment section i realized that you are the favourite youtuber of my favourite youtubers 😊 Nice episode

[@MusicianParadise]

Great series! Thank you!

[@Mystiskmusli]

I'm still wqiting for the Linndrum 2

[@fldrummerman]

Great job!

[@DollysplitBand]

Just discovered your channel dude, amaazing stuff!

[@LouisSerieusement]

such an impressive job on this one !! Thank you so much, love your channel

[@NoirEtBlancVie]

Thank you! You’re a long time, a real one, it means a lot when I see you here 🤗

[@LouisSerieusement]

@@NoirEtBlancVie :D

[@snuppssynthchannel]

Excellent upload! Great presentation and highly informative!

[@raisedranch]

I just love this channel 🙏

[@NoirEtBlancVie]

Thank you! Means a lot 😊

[@gooeyarcade]

I really enjoyed this video

[@TheRealJPhillips]

I had a roland MC-909 around that time. Still have it. It blew that lindrum outta the water.

[@je7647]

really cool stuff

[@VJFranzK]

Good docu, including finale.* "Boom Chik!" I was following the whole evolution, unfortunately it seemed too expensive at the time-pest. Now I'd most wish to buy an updated Tempest 2! It has it's own great sound, different from Elektron, etc. *Roger is right: it's unfortunate to get typecast when you want to innovate

[@toastangler]

I know, I'm probably the 100th person to say this, but these are great. I can't wait for the next one!

[@legendsflashback]

Great video

[@stephenkyburz6529]

i can't believe Roger Linn is from Whittier !! This is where I was born :P sweeeeet

[@303808909ct]

Great series, keep it up please.

[@painauchocolate2395]

You deserve a million subs

[@gautrstafr]

FYI there was a Beat people podcast where they interviewed Roger Linn and he showed a prototype. It looked like a Linnstrument that was MPC-fied

[@samplivor2956]

I loved that video, thx!